Pathway 01 — ethnobotany
Pathway 03 — Plant Medicine Traditions
Reclaiming the Divine Coca Leaf: Science, Spirit, and Stigma
For nearly a century, the world has viewed the coca leaf through a single, narrow lens. Steven King traces 8,000 years of Andean culture and chemistry — and the modern science working to restore this plant’s true identity.
● 5 modules
● 21 lessons
● 42 minutes
● All levels
Steven King, PhD
Ethnobotanist · Magdalena Biosciences
course overview
“The story of Erythroxylum is far older, deeper, and more complex than the stigma suggests. We will deconstruct the historical errors and scientific misunderstandings that conflated a nutrient-dense superfood with a dangerous narcotic — and trace the path from 8,000-year-old Andean ritual to cutting-edge botanical drug development.”
what you will learn
Understand what the coca leaf actually is — a sacred, nutrient-dense plant medicine containing vitamins and minerals — and why it has been cherished as a daily companion across the Andes for generations
Explore the real story of Andean civilization, where coca is the social fabric — used in Kintu offerings, weddings, memory systems, and as a link to Pachamama
Evaluate the taxonomic challenge of identifying cryptic bolete species and why morphological convergence complicates the science
Understand Erythroxylum taxonomy through the legacy of Dr. Timothy Plowman and advances in systematic botany
Follow the pathway from ethnobotanical fieldwork to FDA-compliant botanical drug development under the Nagoya Protocol
Assess the global policy landscape — legal classification, colonial legacies, the failed WHO petition, and what a liberated coca economy could mean
course sYllabus
free preview — Module 1 · Lesson 1
watch free
The Coca Leaf: Botanical Medicine, Cultural Heritage, and Spiritual Significance
Steven King opens by establishing what the coca leaf actually is — a sacred, nutrient-dense plant woven into the social, spiritual, and economic fabric of Andean communities for millennia. He frames the course’s central argument: that the “great confusion” between the whole leaf and its isolated alkaloid has caused immeasurable harm to Indigenous culture, and that science is now in a position to correct the record.
aprox: 4 minutes
about the instructor
Steven King, PhD
Ethnobotanist · Magdalena Biosciences
Dr. Steven King is a distinguished ethnobotanist serving as Chief Sustainable Supply, Ethnobotanical Research, and Intellectual Property Officer at Magdalena Biosciences since 2004. Previously the Vice President of Ethnobotany at Shaman Pharmaceuticals, he is internationally recognized for pioneering the sustainable harvesting of Croton lechleri — work that led to Crofelemer, the first FDA-approved oral botanical drug. He holds an MS and PhD in biology from CUNY and was the first doctoral fellow awarded by the Institute of Economic Botany at the New York Botanical Garden. A board member of the Healing Forest Conservatory, he has spent his career bridging scientific rigor with biodiversity conservation, Indigenous intellectual property, and traditional medicine.
Andean ethnobotany
Botanical drug development
Sustainable supply chains
Indigenous IP
FDA botanical pathway
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